The study of ancient manuscripts has opened portals to past civilizations, from the bustling streets of Mesopotamia to the realms of the Maya, Romans, Persians, and Ancient Greeks. Among these fascinating texts lies a treasure trove known as Šumma ālu ina mēlê šakin – a collection of divinatory tablets etched with omens, offering glimpses into the beliefs and practices of ancient Mesopotamia. Around 2700 years ago, an Assyrian scribe named Nabû-zuqup-kēnu embarked on a quest to predict the future through signs observed on Earth. Living in Kalhu, a city pulsating with Assyrian culture, he meticulously compiled a series of such omens – and named it Šumma ālu. Read More
Nabû-zuqup-kēnu wrote his Šumma ālu collection on 120 clay tablets. After his death, these were possibly transported from Kalhu to Nineveh, once the heart of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and now in modern-day Iraq. They ended up in the Library of Aššurbanipal – the oldest known organised library in the world – where they were discovered thousands of years later by historians.
The Assyrian king Aššurbanipal ordered a new compilation of Šumma ālu, with differences in content, format and structure. This became the well-known canonical series from Nineveh, whereas Nabû-zuqup-kēnu’s version remains shrouded in mystery.
Now, Professor Catherine Mittermayer of the University of Geneva is leading a groundbreaking project to unearth and understand the original Šumma ālu texts by Nabû-zuqup-kēnu.
Before they can study the omens by Nabû-zuqup-kēnu, Mittermayer and her colleagues will need to reconstruct his series. Their project will span across three stages: identifying the scholar’s manuscripts, editing them, and comparing them with the canonical clay tablets.
However, the path to enlightenment is fraught with challenges. The manuscripts of Nabû-zuqup-kēnu have been preserved as incoherent fragments, found among those of the canonical series. After their identification, they will require painstaking reconstruction and interpretation. The study of Nabû-zuqup-kēnu’s texts will resolve several contradictions in the previous reconstructions of Šumma ālu, with different versions presenting variations in their content and sequences of omens.
Upon completion of their project, Mittermayer’s team plans to publish the restored series of Nabû-zuqup-kēnu online, on the Electronic Babylonian Library website. On this website, they will also highlight differences between the scholar’s manuscripts and the canonical series from the Library of king Aššurbanipal.
Their efforts will allow the research community to compare both versions of Šumma ālu, potentially enabling new discoveries about their origin and evolution over time. By reconstructing and publishing the original Šumma ālu series, Mittermayer’s team also hopes to gather insight into the mechanisms that influenced the integration of private text collections into royal libraries in ancient Mesopotamia.
In the dance between past and present, scholars and scribes, the legacy of Nabû-zuqup-kēnu will continue to inspire. Within his clay tablets lies a tapestry of timeless truths waiting to be unveiled.
